Editorial

Fred Hirzel (Fred Hirzel), 02 July 2002

So that the most beautiful of the images of the World Cup remained in the memory, you should cling to the screens not yesterday, but on Saturday. Then the Turkish and Korean heroes of the "comforting" finale, holding hands, went to the stands of the TEGU stadium to thank the wonderful Far Eastern audience. This picture cost all the “golden” heads, all Fair-Play campaigns. Turkish and Korean players again proved that the World Cup, which happens once every four years, is an exceptional event.

As an apotheosis, the Germans and Brazilians did not present any surprise, although the World Cup was “filled” with surprises to the brim. The fate of the match was decided by the mistake of the unfortunate Oliver Kahn (Oliver Kahn). Of course, in the fifth title of Brazilians there is something impressive. The yellow-green, the “All-terrain vehicle” team set their banner on all continents and subcontinents where the world championships were held, since 1930: Europe (1958), South America (1962), Central America (1970), North America (1994), Asia (2002). Chants down! If you forget about this convincing list of awards, we must admit that two teams came together in the final, which relied, first of all, on the “steel” defense, and only three wandering lights of the carnival reminded of the legendary Brazilian madness.

In a purely sports sense, the future of the world championships does not seem to us in the pink light, to the extent that almost all the participants in the championship passed a strict European school, they either took lessons from the coaches of the old continent, or played in European championships. The 21st century football is moving towards tactical unanimity. If the “fresh” applicants from Africa and Asia do not declare themselves in full voice, the contest will turn into a sad “summit”, poor in sight, stingy with emotions, as it was over the past twelve years (exception - untouchable France).

In monetary, the sky of the World Cup seems cloudless. And this is paradoxical, because FIFA stuck in in the quagmire of financial fraud, and the end-stroke is not visible. And due to the collapse of the Kirch group, nothing guarantees the acquisition of the rights to the television broadcast of the 2006 championship, which will cost $ 1.5 billion. At the same time, thanks to the heyday of giant markets, such as American and Chinese, television jackpot will beat all records. As a result, modest television companies, such as SSR, is not able to afford the broadcast of the most popular spectacle in the world.

Translation: inosmi.ru
Published on the website inosmi.ru: 02 July 2002, 11:12
Original publication: Original article

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